Registration of social work in Australia
Registration of social work in Australia
The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) is calling for national statutory registration of social workers. Statutory registration is instrumental to ensure all 46,300 social workers across Australia are practising to safe, ethical and high professional standards.
We need the national registration of the social work profession for:
- Public safety A public register of practitioners and protection of the title ‘Social Worker’ ensures that only those with the requisite education and training who practise safely and ethically can work as a social worker. The public is protected from misconduct and negative outcomes from poor standards of practise.
- Professional quality All social workers are regulated against consistent, high-quality, national professional standards. Social workers will be required to maintain a program of supervision, continuing professional development (CPD) and adhere to recency of practise requirements.
- Professional accountability Registration includes statutory powers to investigate professional misconduct and mechanisms to place conditions on practise or to ban a social worker from practising.
- Workforce mobility National registration makes it easier for social workers to work across different states and territories in Australia. This provides consistent protections for the public and improves access to services in South Australia and in other states and territories.
Registration of social work in Australia
The purpose of the South Australia Social Worker Registration Scheme is to improve public safety, increase accountability and raise standards of professional practice.
Social workers delivering services to South Australian service users will be required to register under the Social Workers Registration Scheme from 1 July 2025.
The registration scheme is overseen by the Social Workers Registration Board of South Australia. The Social Workers Registration Board is a regulatory body which is independent of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
The Social Workers Registration Board will consult social workers and the public on a range of policies and processes before registration commences in 2025.
Visit the Social Workers Registration Scheme website for further information.
The registration scheme is being established under the Social Worker Registration Act 2021 (SA).
For further information on AASW advocacy to pass this legislation click here.
National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS)
We advocate for social workers to be included in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) overseen by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA).
NRAS now covers these 16 professions:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, chiropractors, dental practitioners, medical radiation practitioners, medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, optometrists, osteopaths, paramedics, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists and psychologists.
Social workers should be held to the same high standards as other healthcare professionals. Social workers support people who may be at-risk through situations which demand high standards of practice and ethical conduct, including in child protection, mental health and family violence systems.
The AASW is advocating to federal, state and territory governments to consider a submission to register social workers in NRAS.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the AASW pursuing statutory regulation (registration and accreditation) of social workers in Australia?
There is a lack of nationally consistent regulation of social workers in Australia. The AASW is committed to pursuing a national registration of social workers as a means of ensuring safe and competent social work practice and to protect the public from practitioners who breach ethical standards.
There have been a range of government and Coronial Inquest reports recommending the registration of social workers including:
- Australian Senate Community Affairs References Committee (April 2022)
- Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce strategy 2021–2024
- Coronial Inquest reports: PFS; Chloe Valentine; Ebony Napier; and Zhane Chilcott
- Parliament of South Australia Report of the Joint Committee on the Social Workers Registration Bill 2018
Australia is lagging behind other comparable countries, like the United Kingdom, New Zealand, United States and Canada, all of which have implemented statutory registration schemes for social workers.
Aren’t social workers already registered?
This is a common assumption by the public. Social workers are often trusted to support people during challenging life circumstances and to provide many important services to the community.
Professionals are usually registered and held to high standards when the service users they work with might be vulnerable or at-risk. For example, the community expects that appropriate safeguards are in place so they can put their trust in psychologists, teachers, health professionals and so on.
Many members of the public would be surprised and concerned to learn that a social worker they have been seeing and entrusting with their personal and sensitive information is not registered. A survey undertaken of Australian households found that 91% of respondents thought that social workers providing counselling services can be struck off or banned from practicing in their area should malpractice occur.
South Australia is introducing a Social Worker Registration Scheme following the passage of the Social Worker Registration Act 2021 (SA). This scheme will be implemented from 1 July 2025 and will not cover social workers in other states and territories.
Does national registration for social workers under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) protect patients?
The AASW sets standards for professional practice and ethical conduct of social workers in Australia. However, the AASW is a voluntary, membership-based body with no legal powers to regulate social workers. A large part of the social work workforce in Australia are not members of the AASW.
As social work is not a registered health profession, the public cannot take complaints about social worker misconduct to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
The AASW has an Ethics and Complaints Management Process (ECMP) for managing ethics complaints about AASW members. Only AASW members can be investigated through this process and the most significant means of holding misconduct to account is exclusion from eligibility for membership of the AASW.
In some cases, complaints about social workers can be taken to the relevant state and territory health complaints commission. However, these bodies also have limited powers to regulate social workers, do not enforce preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of misconduct, and are not fit-for-purpose to regulate social worker conduct and practice.
How should social workers be registered in Australia?
The AASW is pursuing registration through the already well-established National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS). NRAS is administered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). If successful, a Social Worker Board of Australia would be established to develop regulatory standards, codes, guidelines and provide updates and other resources for practitioners, employers, students and the public.
The social work profession is a well-defined and well-established health profession in Australia. The standard model that applies to the 16 NRAS regulated health professions is appropriate for the social work profession, with no specific modifications required.
This change is the most practical and cost-effective solution for social worker regulation.
- The commencement of the state based social worker scheme in South Australia on 1 July 2025, will result in an inconsistent approach and will not cover social workers in other states and territories. Bringing all social workers under the same national registration scheme will assure patient safety whilst reducing unnecessary and inefficient administrative mechanisms currently in place.
- Any other approach is not practical and fails to address the risks associated with poor social worker practice and conduct.
- There are social worker competency, education and accreditation frameworks that already exist and can be used for this proposed change.
This recommendation has the support of the public, the profession, and other health stakeholders.
What are the benefits of registration?
The National registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) is primarily about providing protection for clients and greater certainty for employers in facilitating workforce mobility and high-quality service provision.
A statutory model of regulation will provide a legally enforceable set of probity, qualification and practice standards for entry into the profession and maintenance of continuing professional development as a requirement for maintaining registration and accreditation. It will therefore provide members of the public with greater confidence that a person stating they are a social worker is qualified and adheres to ethical practice and a minimum set of standards.
Statutory registration and accreditation also provide a registration board with powers to investigate complaints and legally enforceable penalties for practitioners who breach competency and ethical standards, including removal from the register of practitioners. This makes it less likely that a person engaging in incompetent or unethical practice will move to another position without detection.
How would national registration through NRAS and AHPRA happen?
To include social workers in NRAS, Australian state and territory Health Ministers and Heads of Health Departments must agree that the profession meets established criteria for inclusion in the scheme. A process will be followed which includes a regulatory risk assessment and public consultation. Further information about this process can be found in the government document, AHMAC information on regulatory assessment criteria and process for adding new professions to the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions.
The AASW is engaging with Health Ministers and other related stakeholders to seek their endorsement to initiate this process.
Recently, the AASW wrote to all state and territory premiers requesting their position on national registration of social workers and highlighting the urgent need to take action for the safety of Australians.
If you have further questions about national registration of social workers, contact the AASW Social Policy and Advocacy via email: [email protected]